A preschool education union on Wednesday protested what it called the “unfair treatment” of childcare workers, saying that despite the similarity in job responsibilities compared with preschool teachers, childcare workers receive less pay and welfare treatment.
The Taiwan Early Childhood Education Union asked their 3,000 childcare worker-members to vote for the “Top 10 Most Absurd Issues in Early Childhood Education,” and the No. 1 subject was the discriminatory system.
The issue received 626 votes from childcare workers, who along with teachers make up Taiwan’s preschool educators, after Taiwan introduced a mechanism in 2012 that integrated childcare services.
Photo: CNA
Since then, kindergartens and nurseries have been restructured as preschools, enrolling children aged two to seven to meet the needs of modern families for early childhood education and care services.
However, the two groups of educators are subject to two sets of regulations, even though Taiwan Early Childhood Education Union chairwoman Hsu Wen-ching (許文菁) said that their job responsibilities are very similar.
FEWER PROTECTIONS
Childcare workers are treated as “second-class teachers,” who do not enjoy the same travel benefits or professional and performance bonuses as teachers, she told a news conference.
The former are subject to the Labor Standards Act
(勞動基準法), while the latter fall under the Teachers’ Act (教師法), meaning they have fewer legal protections in the same work environment, Hsu said.
For instance, childcare workers cannot take full advantage of the 30-minute lunch break they are entitled to due to the nature of their work, as they often have to accompany children when they eat and rest.
According to Taiwanese law, childcare workers are required to obtain an early childhood education diploma from a vocational school or above, while teachers have to complete educational programs, teacher certification examinations
and internships, before receiving an official teacher certification, which is similar to teachers in elementary and high schools.
In response to the union’s criticism, the Ministry of Education said it would continue to improve the salary and benefits for childcare workers, adding that the group is entitled to the same 4 percent wage increase as their military and civil servant counterparts starting next year.
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